Share The Road.

I think the problem is less the fact that the bikers are on the road itself, and more the fact that they aren't sharing it, riding in the middle of the road, and just generally being assholes. I don't mind a biker who is staying close to the side as he should be, but if they ride in packs, hogging up the whole road, that's when I get pissed off. It's against the law in NH to ride your bike on the sidewalk as well, so I understand what the issue is, just share the damn road is all we ask.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I personally think its the worst when some kids ride on the wrong side of the road. They shouldn't do that even when there is bike lane right? >w< Almost run over one the other day. I mean, When I was riding bikes, I usually don't have the gull to go on the road, people are crazy here.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

When I was a kid we'd ride bikes on sidewalks along fairly busy roads and only ride on the road where we knew there barely was any traffic and of course when we heard cars coming we'd go to the side of the road to let them pass. I figured it was the same for most places.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by RainMan

A biker who takes up the entire road and swerves constantly causing panic in following traffic, is a problem. It is also dangerous.

The same could be said of a driver who takes up the whole road and swerves constantly, causing panic in following traffic. Do you have a point?

Originally Posted by RainMan

Many bikers feel it's a good idea to be on main roads when back roads would be just as efficient for getting around.

If the back roads are just as efficient for getting around then why don't you drive down them instead of getting pissed off at other people who are behaving exactly as the law requires them to? Why do you feel that your have a greater right to travel than they do?

I was speaking idiomatically.

You know, in most states, bikers are required to be on the road if they're out biking at all. That said, I do get a bit irritated at times, because when roads permit, they can at the very least ride in the gravel/dirt shoulder of the road. That's what I always did when I biked to school back in the day, but many of the bikers I come across ride too close for comfort when they definitely don't have to. I don't mean to sound like an angry driver, and they don't bike in the middle of the road, but as the minority (and the less powerful force) on the street, they should really get out of the way as much as they can. Well, within their comfort, at least. It's not that bad biking on the shoulder. Likewise, as the more powerful force on the road, we should be extra cautious. We just shouldn't have to drive on the median to get around bikers is all.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I see why you are defensive Arainach. It makes sense. You and I are separated by a great divide...not really though. You probably use your bike pretty religiously. To get to work and what not? I like cycling and respect that cars should have the right of way on the basis that they SHOULD be respected because of the capacity for mangling. It's as simple as that.

Originally Posted by Arainach

Yes.

Actually, that explains a lot.

Originally Posted by Arainach

Civil mode off. HOW FUCKING STUPID ARE YOU.

Well, not quite dumb enough to bring up the point that all roads in all regions were built under the same circumstances and remain unchanged. That is faulty thinking right there, bro.

Let me ask you another question...Do you live on the East Coast, where roads have largely remained unchanged since the times of horse and carriage? If so, then our circumstances are quite different and reasoning directly correlated with individual experience.

(Whatever your answer, implying that this gives bikers the right to weave and bob on the side of the road, is pretty dumb.)

I live in Overland Park, Kansas and I would be silly not to include the little fact that the roads that I drive on daily were made primarily for cars and motor vehicles. NOT for BICYCLES and certainly not horse-drawn carriage.

Quote:

Bikers are fully aware of how much damage cars can do;

Then why do half of them drive like they are inebbriated?

Look, I am not saying that car drivers are better than cyclists, I just find it curious that you look at this as 'Us vs. Them'.

Again, I believe that many cyclists are aware of what is going on around them, but I've seen enough instances where the cyclists rode around with a sense of reckless bravado that it makes me uneasy when I am driving.

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Quote:

You probably use your bike pretty religiously. To get to work and what not?

Actually, I just do it recreationally during the summer. I did it a lot while I lived on campus, but I commute now, drive to campus, and walk everywhere once I'm there.

Quote:

(Whatever your answer, implying that this gives bikers the right to weave and bob on the side of the road, is pretty dumb.)

Bikers have a right to ride in the middle of the lane if they so desire. Weaving and bobbing is dumb whether you do it on a bike or in a car.

Quote:

Then why do half of them drive like they are inebbriated?

Because the side of the road is the most filled with debris that can pop tires or cause accidents, and is often the most curved and hardest to stay straight on? Or because they've avoiding other obstacles such as mailboxes and cars next to them while simply trying not to die.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Arainach

Weaving and bobbing is dumb whether you do it on a bike or in a car.

...I am well aware of this. Did I mention anything to the contrary?

Originally Posted by Arainach

Or because they've avoiding other obstacles such as mailboxes and cars next to them while simply trying not to die.

I find that a car is a bit more hazardous than a mailbox. That's just me but perhaps it's just my sense of bias and hatred of all cyclists chiming in...

Personally, I'd take my chances with the mailbox.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by RainMan

I find that a car is a bit more hazardous than a mailbox. That's just me but perhaps it's just my sense of bias and hatred of all cyclists chiming in...

Personally, I'd take my chances with the mailbox.

I almost died from the stupidity in these sentences. Let me lay this open for everyone.

First let us consider a fictitious situation. Say you were in a room that you couldn't leave, and you were told that if you stayed where you were in the room that you would die and that if you moved to another place you had a .5 chance of dying (that's 50% if you can't handle basic probability theory). What do you do?

I'm not sure about other people, but I personally would move because if I didn't I would have a 1.0 chance of dying, if I do move I would at least have a .5 chance of surviving.

Now let us draw the parallel. I have the choice of biking one foot away from the curb or 2 feet away from the curb. If I bike one foot away from the curb I will hit the mail box. If I bike 2 feet away from the curb I have a minuscule chance that an insane (because of the legal consequences), asshole (because of the nature of the action) of a driver will come and hit me. I'm not sure which one to pick now. Run right into the mail box, or take the 0.0 (if you're a probability idiot, this doesn't mean that it's impossible) chance of getting hit by a car.

I can tell you though, that Rainman would choose to run right into the mailbox.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Rainman, ride a bicycle.

It turns out that the driver of the car is the asshole ninety-nine times out of a hundred. They're just too pompous to see it.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I definitely don't have enough balls to ride my bike on the street. I mostly ride my bike on campus and near home (on sidewalks), so there isn't a lot of cars I have to deal with when I'm biking. Unless the sidewalk condition is absolute shit (broken glass, gravel, loose stones, sleeping bums, etc.), I try not to go on the road because I know there's rude people driving that day.

When I'm driving though, it does irritate me when there's a bicyclist, but I've gotten over it by now; if it's a one-lane road, I wait a bit, or just switch lanes otherwise.

I think one of the biggest problems is the visibility and space issue; when I'm driving, it's hard to notice a small biker compared to a large car. Also, around here, the bikers have a tendency to get REALLY close to the car (same with motorcyclists, but I won't get to that). From the biker's point-of-view, there's plenty of space, but to the driver, the biker's gonna scratch off the paint, you know?

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

This makes it easy. When you see a bicycle in front of you, replace the image of the bicycle with a car. If the cyclist is going slow, replace the bicycle with a car being driven by a grandma. Now, if there is room, pass the car. Don't cut the car off, and do drive so close to cleave it. Just pass it when you get a chance. Easy, right?

There is no cyclist who will swerve into the other lane to cut you off, so don't pretend like there is. Cyclists know how easy it is to be wiped out by a car.

Also, it is really dangerous for a cyclist to ride near the parking lane if there is one. You should not expect a cyclist to get over if there are parked cars in the parking lane, any of the cars could open their doors, resulting in a possible death.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Devoxycontin

I don't know where you drive, but passing cars is typically illegal. (Here there were just to many head-ons to keep it legal.)

The hell are you talking about. It's ILLEGAL TO PASS CARS now?

lawlalwalwlaw. I need a bloody source confirming this for Cali or something or I'm calling epic levels of god damn bullshit.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

So "typically illegal" is now "on this one highway with lots of head-ons". Gotcha.

Holy shit, American drivers. And don't even get me started on the rest of you shitheads in this thread. Is Ary the only one who knows what he's talking about or what?

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Devoxycontin

Except the urban cyclists who think street lights and stop signs are just for cars, I agree. California cyclists are pretty lucky around here, they have bike lanes or even designated biking trails.

Ya, now all we have to do is get them to use them (at least in my area this is a problem).

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Devoxycontin

I think you can pass in bumfucknowheresville, but a lot of the places around here have forbid it (with signs) or plenty of earmarks to what kinds of things you can pass, when you can pass them, etc. So it's pretty much become illegal around here. One highway in particular had so many head-ons due to passing and just general head-ons from people not being able to stay in their lane, the highway going either direction has been split. There are two lanes for each way about 100 feet apart.

So there were two lanes each way on non-divided roads, and people would pass people in the left lane by crossing over into the oncoming lanes of traffic?

And what kind of highways do you have up there that don't have any sort of division between the two directions of traffic? Where I'm from those are just called roads.

Maybe it's just another sign of how California is the worst place in the country.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

We call those roads here.

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Roads where we're from is everything except for the highway. Meaning, pretty much everything. Most of them not only last for a few blocks, but entire towns, and, if they're feeling extreme, they'll stretch into the next town. And after that? The world.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

What's more crazy about bikers in rural areas are bikers in urban streets. San Francisco and the Bay Area in general has a huge cyclist population with a fondness of hating motor vehicles and the people who use them. Once a month in Berkeley and San Francisco, there's this event called Critical Mass where sometimes up to hundreds of cyclist go on major surface streets, clogging up traffic and antagonizing drivers by insulting them or even throwing their bikes onto their cars.

There are bike lanes here too but oftentimes they are poorly planned and cars have to make dangerous maneuvers around the cyclists. I'm all for sharing the road but crap urban planning and an over bloated sense of entitlement mixed with righteousness ruins the party for everyone.

I really have nothing against people who bike, I actually admire them since they're better than my lazy ass for pedaling all over the city's hills but the ones here care too much about other people's shit. So what I drive a car, get over yourself.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Devoxycontin

I don't know where you drive, but passing cars is typically illegal. (Here there were just to many head-ons to keep it legal.)

The point that I was making was that if you wouldn't pass a car, don't pass a cyclist.

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Originally Posted by Devoxycontin

In San Fran they tend to not give a shit about the street lights, then act all pissy when one they're own gets hit. I've lost sympathy for several bikers in that city after Critical Mass and the shit I've seen them pull in front of on-coming traffic. I'm sure there are tolerable ones but the proportion in SF is just tilted towards assholes.

If they go across a red light when there's traffic going the other way then they deserve to be hit.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

If there's anything worthy of capital punishment, this is surely it.

FELIPE NO